Consumer protection can best be achieved through competition Essay - 1

Consumer protection can best be achieved through competition regulation ensuring a functioning competitive market. Discuss - Essay Example Thus, to understand how competition regulation benefits the consumer, it is critical to also first appreciate how competition regulation is related to the consumer protection regime2. This paper will begin my discussing the major completion regulations in the UK, before discussing the effect of competition regulation on the functioning of a competitive market. This will lead on to a discussion on how competition regulation’s effect on market functioning strengthens the consumer protection regulatory regime. Competition regulation policy in the UK, as well as the EU, is based on four fundamental pillars. The first pillar involves cartels and anti-trust, including the elimination of agreements that act to restrict competition, such as price-fixing by dominant market players3. The second pillar involves market liberalization that seeks to introduce renewed competition in sectors enjoying monopolistic tendencies, including postal services, energy supply, aviation, and telecommunications. A third pillar is state aid control, through which competition regulation policy analyses measures of state aid to ensure they do not distort market competition. The final pillar is merger control, through which governments investigate take-overs and mergers to avoid domination of the market by large business groups. UK competition regulation is anchored in legislation and there have been sustained attempts to enhance competition regulation since 1948. The Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Act 1948 was the UK government’s first legislative attempt to regulate competitive practices, specifically by setting up the Competition Commission to block mergers that would threaten public interest4. The Monopolies and Mergers Act 1965, in turn, empowered this commission to investigate possible and actual mergers, especially where there was a risk of increased monopoly power. In the meantime, the UK government got the